greent's mfw journey

newgirly

michelle09 wrote: »

Sounds lovely except for the bathroom leak! Ravenclaw is the best house, so I completely agree with DS2. (Friends bought us matching Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff card holders).

Enjoy the rest of your Christmas week. [/QUOTE



Dd and I mock ds2 for being a hufflepuff, nearly as bad as ravenclaw


Glad your Xmas went well greent

greent

Leaking loo has now been fixed! Yeay!! :j:j Some minor redecoration and re-boxing in required - but the boys' bathroom loo is now fixed :T

In our house, DD is Gryffindor, DS1 Slytherin (which he is pleased about), DS2 (and OH, somehow!) Ravenclaw - and I'm Hufflepuff. We haven't had DS3 do the 'test' yet

Like many on here, I am planning a low-spend Jan - excluding the fact that Jan and Feb will involve spending £000s on the kitchen! :eek::rotfl: Aside from this I plan to keep spends low (although also figure some convenience may creep in whilst kitchen itself is being fitted) I have topped up my Sains and Tesc0 giftcards (we can buy topups at 5% and 4% discount) and have 3 x £12 and 2 x £9 off £60 spends at Sains vouchers which will get me through to end of Jan. I still plan on using A1di but will use the Sains vouchers wisely for offers. DS2's 12th bday is early Jan, but I've got all of his presents and just need a cake (I buy bday cakes (usually s'mkt) as I bake so much stuff normally - and I can't decorate cakes! ) I also need to pay my tax bill (£565) in Jan - I could pay it now, but figure it can sit in my account just a little longer and earn me another 1p, or whatever!

Oooh - OH's contract has been extended YET again - and this time it's until end of April! :j Not bad for a contract which originally was meant to end in the middle of last July :T That should then see us ok even if he doesn't get another one for a while afterwards

We (OH and I) went out for dinner last night - to the Ivy Brasserie in Cheltenham (offshoot of The Ivy) - beautiful Grade 1 listed building and tastefully converted from a Ll0yds bank to the restaurant and bar! I guess because it's a offshoot/brasserie type place the prices are much more reasonable than the 'parent' place. The food was lovely though - and the people watching opportunities in Chelt are great at the best of times - but in a newly opened place even better - fab entertainment of people showing off and being ostentatious. We just sat quietly in the corner, watching and grinning Even better, we personally didn't pay for our meal:T

We're out for more food tomorrow - a festive afternoon tea - a Xmas present which we needed to take by 1st week in Jan, so we had to cram it in! OH isn't actually keen on 'festive' afternoon tea fare (he doesn't like cranberry sauce or dried fruits....) so I'm going to take a tub for some of the uneaten things left by OH, like the walnut and cranberry scones (Some hotels box up uneaten things for you - this one doesn't, sadly. DS1 will likely like things brought home, though)

We woke up to snow yesterday - which is still here today, but with a layer of ice on top. It's very slippery out there!! And cold - we've had the heating on most of the day as a result! :eek:

smallholdingsister

Ooh I love Chelters. You lucky thing, you!

Karmacat

Have a great day! I'm glad the Ivy Brasserie was a good'un - I've heard their T Wells restaurant is not great - drunken elderly men pawing a woman, snooty staff when people didn't choose the a la carte menu, and very, very little choice on the desserts. Sounds like Chelters (I love that ) was better.

I'd love to be Gryffindor, an action hero etc etc, but I'd be studious Ravenclaw, I'm sure Never mind, Luna was Ravenclaw, and she got her share of action

atypicalblonde

That sounds like an amazing meal out and I'm so chuffed for your DH having the contract extended.

It will be a VERY low spend January in our house too, I have £10k to find by the end of March, who needs food?!

Happy new year love, here's to a great new year all round xx

Goldiegirl

Glad you had a good meal out.

I've just done the quiz to see what house I'd be sorted into, and I'm ...... Ravenclaw. I can live with that, I was worried that I'd be Slytherin!

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Sounds like some lovely new year outings. These will fortify you for your frugal start to 2018!

newgirly

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Glad you had a good meal out.

I've just done the quiz to see what house I'd be sorted into, and I'm ...... Ravenclaw. I can live with that, I was worried that I'd be Slytherin!

How dare you, nothing wrong with slytherin :rotfl:

michelle09

newgirly wrote: »

Dd and I mock ds2 for being a hufflepuff, nearly as bad as ravenclaw

Glad your Xmas went well greent

OH has finally admitted to being a Hufflepuff. And embraced it. I bought him a Hufflepuff tshirt last year as a joke because he got really touchy if someone called him on it.

Wonderful news on your OH's contract, greent. The festive afternoon tea sounds delightful too.

greent

The meal was fab! OH and I have plans to go there for breakfast/ brunch some time when he has a day off (so not sure when that'll be! :rotfl:) - the prices for that aren't bad. We're considering it for DD's 21st, too (:eek: - I'll have a 21 year old child in 2018!! (and an 18yo!) (and a 12 and 9yo - but those ages aren't scary )

We've overspent on our Dec food budget - but I'm not too upset by that. We haven't eaten down the freezer at all - in fact, I've been adding to it with some great YS items yesterday and today, so it's a game of tetris in there right now! January will see us eating out of there and the pantry - and DD will also relieve us of quite a bit of food when she goes back to uni in just over a week.:p

So.... it's NYE tomorrow. DS1 is out at a party (I believe it is a sleepover) DD went out with friends last night for an early NYE celebration (some friends are working tomorrow night or have family stuff) so she is at home with us and the small 2. Our plans were Chines takeaway (budgeted), prosecco (not for the smalls!) and a games night - with Ma1tesers and the Hotel Choc dipping extravaganza we got for Xmas. Bestie texted me earlier and has asked if she and her hubby can come over for the evening - obv said yes. Not sure if they want takeaway - will confirm tomorrow morning (we were trying to arrange it all when I was sorting smallest for bed). Also not sure if they are staying!

I have 'undressed' the dining table now (tablecloth and runner in the wm as I type) but have left all decs untouched as yet. I may remove some of the foliage tomorrow - the ivy is looking crispy/ floppy, depending upon which room it's in. Holly is still all very nice, though! Much as I love Christmas, I am looking forward to having all the storage boxes out of the way again

I'm looking forward to 2018 and what it may bring May it be a good one for all of us! xx